Hello
Welcome to The Style Ideal Studio, a hub of creative design and style expertise owned and driven by Nicole S. James—your dedicated professional curator and creator of all things style and stylish.
I am a Creative Consultant and Apparel Designer, specializing in concept/trend and development as well as commercial apparel design projects and products. My expertise covers activewear, woven tops and bottoms, denim, outerwear, cut and sew knits, as well as athleisure categories for women's contemporary, streetwear, and junior markets. I provide support to both startup and established global brands, offering a range of creative services, including trend and concept research, design, collection development, sourcing, and the creation of finalized tech sample packages for factory production.
Within these digital walls, you'll find an array of my one-day quick sketch design process ideations that have helped sharpen my design skills, providing you with a glimpse into my ideation process. My overall objective? To listen intently and fully comprehend your vision, working closely to realize your creative ambitions.
In a world evolving with each stitch, I am the architect of tomorrow's trends. Let's create the future, one stitch at a time.
My service includes:
• Fashion Design: Help create globally compelling, innovative, cutting-edge apparel. Ensuring designs harmonizes with style plans, sales needs, emerging trends, and tight calendar deadlines without compromising design excellence.
• Concept Development: Help clients conceptualize their ideas or forecast my very own seasonal conceptual trends into tangible vision by creating mood board and color palette as guidelines for garment designs
• Trend Research: Identify and incorporate the latest and appropriate trends into designs from online research to shopping the market.
• CAD Design: Create detailed technical sketching and color cads
• Tech Packs: Create factory-ready tech packs with all necessary information for garment making including BOM, color information, & measurement specifications
• Fabric & Trim Sourcing: Source & select fabrics and trims that are appropriate for garment designs
• Product & Trim Development: Help clients with effective communication with factory during the product development process from initial design to the finished product
• Consultation: Provide consultation on topics such as,, streamlining brand, concept, & design development process, sourcing fabric and trims with vendors, and how to effectively communicate with oversea factories
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Computer Proficiency:
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Indesign, HTML, CSS, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, · Bill of Materials (BOM) PLM, WebPDM.
My Story
Nicole S. James embodies the passion, drive, and distinct creative intuition that fuel trends in commerce. With a wealth of hands-on career experience exceeding a decade, she specializes in fashion design, event photography/production, graphic design, and styling. Armed with a versatile skill set, Nicole has collaborated with a plethora of globally recognized brands and notable clients including Prince, Levi's, Isaac Mizrahi, Rachel Roy, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Jessica Simpson, Vilebrequin, Champion, Kardashian Kollection, Shakira, Tommy Hilfiger, Nikki Minaj, Andrew Marc, Rocawear, Mecca, Baby Phat, and more.
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Drawing from invaluable experiences working alongside industry elites, Nicole's expertise spans the gamut of technical prowess and creative finesse. Her remarkable ability to translate vision into successful products establishes her as a formidable force in today’s design landscape.
As a seasoned designer, Nicole has adeptly directed teams and surpassed numerous timeline expectations. Her career journey has seamlessly integrated her with overseas factories across Asia and Europe, allowing her to oversee multiple brand collections. Working directly from Shanghai, China, afforded her the invaluable skill of effortlessly transforming design ideas into commercial products.
At different junctures in her career, she collaborated with a diverse array of fashion insiders, delving into the intricacies of fashion public relations with dynamic figures such as Kelly Cutrone, alongside many accomplished fashion photographers and stylists. These collective experiences uniquely position Nicole S. James, endowing her with a diverse professional toolkit, enabling her to perceive the fashion world through a multifaceted lens. This advantage continues to empower her in building and launching successful brands and products throughout her illustrious career and beyond.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
914.713-5711